Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario to Close Non-Essential Businesses Due to COVID-19
Date: March 23, 2020
On March 23, 2020, the Ontario government announced that effective 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday March 24, non-essential businesses will be ordered closed for 14 days, and possibly longer.
A full list of businesses which will be permitted to remain open will be released tomorrow. Access to groceries, medicine and essential products will remain in place. [Editor’s Note: After this post was published, the full list of essential workplaces was released by the government on March 23 at 8:00 p.m.]
In its news release, the government stated that those businesses that can continue operations with employees working remotely, or through other contingency measures, will be given 36 hours to prepare and adapt.
We are considering the issues raised by this announcement and will provide more information on our website, including the list of businesses once it becomes available.
